Trojans Survive in Five Sets at Florida A&M

Tuesday, October 23

Tallahassee, Fla.

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Florida A&M

Photo by: Cass Davis

Trojans Survive in Five Sets at Florida A&M

10/23/2012 9:14:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Troy volleyball team dominated the stat sheet, but still needed five sets to defeat Florida A&M on the road on Tuesday, 3-2 (25-27, 25-16, 24-26, 25-18, 15-11) at the Al Lawson Center. The win was the second over Florida A&M for Troy this season.w

“Tonight was a great test for us,” Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “Florida A&M has really improved since the first time we played. We needed this to get better before Saturday.

They put us in situations that we had to work hard out of. This was a great character test and our team came through and made the plays when we needed to.”

Troy's 17 wins on the season is the most by a Troy team since the 2002 team went 20-11.

Troy (17-9) hit .316 on the match and posted 14.0 blocks to Florida A&M's 3.0 blocks, but two outstanding sets by the Rattlers made it a tough match. Alicia Dukes led Troy with 19 kills while three others were in double figures including Devin Von Pingel (17), Breanna Cullity (15) and Kayla Pickart (10).

Alexandra Alexander posted 50 assists for the Trojans to go along with 15 digs for a double-double. Courtney Cohen led the way on the back line with 27 digs, while Dukes also posted a double-double with 11 digs.

Dukes also posted a match high nine blocks, nearly missing out the first triple-double of the season for the Trojans.

Florida A&M (7-9) was led by Maria Ceccarelli who posted 24 kills while Diana Gonzales recorded 63 assists.

The Trojans hit .318 in the opening set, but the Rattlers came out swinging at a .348 clip with 20 kills and just four errors in a set that was very tight. With the score tied at 23-23, FAMU scored four of six to take the 27-25 win.

Troy swung at .452 with just two errors as they dominated to the tune of 25-16 to pull even. Troy held FAMU to a .125 clip in the second, but the Rattlers hit .300 in the third as they pulled back ahead with a 26-24 win.

Troy swung at .353 in the fourth set in another dominated win, this one 25-18, to force a deciding fifth set.

Troy jumped up to a 6-3 lead in the fifth set, forcing a Florida A&M timeout. The Rattlers would get within in two at 13-11, but a Rattlers service error and a Dukes kill gave Troy the win.

The Trojans return to the floor on Saturday when they travel to South Alabama to resume Sun Belt play. The Trojans sit in second place in the Sun Belt at 7-3. Troy and South Alabama will get under way at 7 p.m. at Jaguar Gym.

For more information on Troy Athletics, be sure to visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or Facebook at Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.